Landmark Ballsbridge kiosk for sale at €200k

A LANDMARK coffee kiosk in Dublin has gone on the market for a whopping €200,000, despite the current property crisis.

It's famous for selling some of the cheapest coffee in Dublin, but the renowned kiosk in Ballsbridge has an expensive price tag.

Situated just across the road from the old Jurys Hotel, the kiosk, which supplies a regular cup of coffee for €2, is popular with the locals and, particularly, early morning commuters.

Renting

The kiosk is currently run by Brian Kenny, director of Silverskin Coffee Roasters, who has been renting the business since last April for a fee of €15,600 per year.

While Mr Kenny confirmed that the property is up for sale, he is not sure what this means for the future of the business.

"I knew this place was going to sell. The owner contacted me and told me about it, but price-wise I don't know anything more at the moment," Mr Kenny told the Herald.

The Barista has been in the coffee business for the last 15 years -- the coffee is specially roasted and the beans are originally sourced. It appeared in the Herald last year when Mr Kenny began temporarily selling the world's most expensive coffee, Kopi Luwak -- sourced from cat droppings -- for €30 a go.

And although the business has done well throughout the recession, there are doubts over its sale in the middle of the property crisis.

Iconic

"When we got here this time last year the place was horrendous so to open it up and restore it was great, especially in the middle of the recession," Mr Kenny said.

The kiosk hit the headlines in 1989 when it was bought for £132,000 by the late shopping centre developer Phil Monahan.

It was put on the market again in 1998 but the bid was later removed because it failed to fetch more than £150,000, despite the owners looking for £250,000.

"It's iconic so a lot of people were very happy when it was restored because they thought it was just going to be knocked down," Mr Kenny said.